User reviews

Tracks is a film that was over 30 years in the making with actresses like Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts being attached to the project. Lead by Mia Wasikowska, Tracks is an interesting, thematic character study.

In the mid-seventies, Robyn Davidson (Wasikowska) is a determined young woman who leaves the big city behind for Alice Springs in the middle of Australia. She plans to raise money and gain skills before attempting to cross the Australian deserts to the Indian Ocean: a journey of 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometres). With sponsorship from National Geographic, she sets off with her dog and four camels and meets American photographer Rick Smolan (Adam Driver) at various points on her journey.

Wasikowska gives a fantastic, compelling performance as a young determined woman who puts herself through a massive physical and mental toll. She is a character who is uncomfortable with modern society, and everyone she meets, from her friends to hardened outback men, think she is mad for wanting to take such a dangerous journey.

Robyn is a character who has to negotiate for everything she wants to complete her journey and she is determined to do it her own way. She is in the shadow of her father who was himself an explorer and disappeared in Australian wilderness. Robyn is haunted by her past as she has flashbacks during her journey about the various tragedies of her life.

Some of the best moments in Tracks are when Robyn is all alone in the wild, giving Wasikowska a fantastic opportunity to show off her a talents, as she goes through the emotional stresses she endures. She is believable as she treks through the hostile environment, battling for survival and doing for her the unimaginable, including shooting wildlife and having to discipline her camels.

As she progresses on her journey her sense of reality is questioned, affected by both her isolation and the hot, physical environment. This is amplified by the direction of John Curran, who adds to the surreal nature of these sequences and the fantastic cinematography by Mandy Walker, who truly highlights the beautiful landscape while still showing it as hot, dry and harsh.

The main focus of Tracks is Robyn's personal journey yet it still looks at some wider issues particularly the treatment of Aboriginal people. This theme is prevalent throughout the film, starting early as one Aboriginal person suffers racial abuse, and keeps going as Aboriginal people are seen living in poverty or gawked at by tourists. Even people who have good intentions are disrespectful of their traditions. Robyn ends up being a character who has more affinity with the Aboriginal people and fellow loners and outsiders than with mainstream society.

Tracks is in keeping with films about outsiders looking for a purpose in their lives, like Into the Wild. It is a brilliantly acted film blessed with excellent visuals and themes to easily sink your teeth into.

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Robyn (Mia Wasikowska) arrives in Alice Springs, determined to make the 1,700 mile journey to Australia's west coast on foot across the desert, accompanied by camels and her dog. This film tells of her preparation and the outcome of her journey.

Despite the fact that it is often leisurely in the telling of Robyn's true story and that Robyn is, for much of the running time, the only person on screen, it is never less than engaging. We get some idea of what drove Robyn to undertake this project (although there is no glib, clear explanation of her motivations), and we meet some of the people she encountered (and one of the enjoyable elements in this film is the development of National Geographical photographer Rick (Adam Driver) - truly annoying when we first meet him, by the end he is much more in tune with what Robyn's objectives have been).

Mia Wasikowska is very good in this gently moving film, but the real stars of this beautifully photographed story are the Australian desert and the camels.

There is a small amount of dramatically justifiable bad language and some animal upset involved.

The scenes I enjoyed the most in this movie were the star shots. Imagine you are sleeping in the outback, and the sky is ablaze with the southern constellations. No matter where you are, there is a star right straight above you; you are not alone.

Being alone is an important theme to Robyn Davidson. We are told by back story that her mother committed suicide at an early age. We are also told that her father wandered all around East Africa prospecting. She is forced to live with her aunt and her beloved dog is put down. The first lines in the movie tell us that movement and change are important to Robyn. Think of a gyroscope. As long as it is spinning, it can provide accurate navigational information. Stop spinning, and it goes out of control.

Travelling with camels also makes sense. Symbolically camels are independent, tough, resourceful and most of all they can go for long periods without the essentials of life. So for Robyn going for long periods with no human contact mimics the camels lack of certain essentials as well. Like her father, she has an instinct for the bush and finds herself at home in that environment. You get the feeling that she could find her way even without her dad's Brunton compass. Also she is able to bond with a whole variety of creatures from wild camels, aboriginals and bushmen. She respects the ways and habits of the people she meets.

This movie has wonderful shots of the outback and the incredible variety of people and places that present themselves. As many adventures do, it has a huge physical as well as psychological component. The acting is well done, there is not an excess of emotion or drama, but Mia and Adam do an excellent job of showing us that there is lots going on underneath it all, which fits exactly.

To be honest at first this movie didn't seem like it would be interesting to sit through for almost 2 hours. A girl walks across the desert with her camels, what's interesting about that? Well if you go into this movie thinking that, you'll come out pleasantly surprised.

At every turn there is something new and unexpected that happens. The challenges that Robyn faced on her journey were incredible. This film was based on a true story and was adapted from a book. Mia Wasikowska's acting was superb, it really took you on a journey. From start to finish this film was visually spectacular. The vast Australian outback was stunning and amazing to see on screen.

I would recommend this film to anyone is up for an inspirational story. 7/10.

Poet and naturalist Diane Ackerman said, "The great affair, the love affair with life, is to live as variously as possible, to groom one's curiosity like a high-spirited thoroughbred, climb aboard, and gallop over the thick, sun struck hills every day." One such high-spirited thoroughbred is Australian naturalist Robyn Davidson who, at the age of 27, crossed the Australian outback in 1977 from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean with only four camels and her dog as companions. Nominated for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, Director John Curran's Tracks documented Davidson's nine-month journey of 1677 miles without adding layers of melodrama to distract us from her true spirit of adventure and love of nature.

Based on Robyn Davidson's classic travel book of the same name and supported by the extraordinary cinematography of Mandy Walker and the lovely score by Garth Stevenson, the film follows Robyn as she travels solo across the unfathomable desert. Sponsored by National Geographic magazine, photographer Rick Smolan (Adam Driver) was chosen by the magazine to photograph her journey for the magazine, but only meets up with her at scattered points during her trip. Davidson at first finds Rick annoyingly over-talkative, but slowly warms to his support and caring and they become friends, while still keeping their distance.

Not much information is given as to Robyn's motivations in undertaking this adventure, but the film does provide flashbacks over the course of the film informing us about events in the naturalist's past involving loss and disappointment. In some ways, comparable to Chris McCandless' odyssey as documented in Sean Penn's 2007 film Into the Wild, Robyn's goal is to convince herself that she is up to the task of following her own path without having to conform to society's expectations. In spite of her need for solitude, however, she learns to compromise with friends and reach an understanding with visiting journalists looking for a story, even though at one point she says to a resident of the desert, "It's hard to explain that I just want perfectly nice people to shut up and die." Though Robyn does her best to avoid the unwanted company, she eventually recognizes her need for support from others, not only from Rick, but also from an Aboriginal elder named Eddy (Roly Mintuma), who accompanies her to make sure that she avoids the Aboriginal's sacred land. Mia Wasikowska as Davidson perfectly captures the sharp edges of her enigmatic personality while still retaining her adamant refusal to be the effect of her social limitations. It is a strong performance that may earn her consideration for a Best Actress award at the 2014 Oscars.

Though some viewers may become restless with the unchanging landscape and the lack of overt drama, obstacles do appear in the form of wild bull camels charging towards her and the need for her to take a 160 mile detour to avoid Aboriginal lands. While Tracks has a surprising amount of clutter for an adventure into the wild, as Davidson comes closer to her goal, the growing quiet and emptiness of the vast outback turns her journey into an experience that assumes a dreamlike and spiritual aura.

Through it all, her fierce determination to accomplish her goal while still retaining her sense of self grows stronger. Davidson in a recent interview said that "At the time, all young people pretty much wanted to do extraordinary things and extend the limits of what had been given to them as their roles." Poet e e cummings agrees, saying, "To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battles which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." That is the legacy of Robyn Davidson.

The true story of Robyn Davidson's adventure and her crossing of a 1,700 mile across the Australian wilderness.

Whilst it is undoubtedly an amazing feat to be able to achieve this, the sheer remarkableness of this achievement is not conveyed in this film properly. Had we not been aware that this is based on a true story, judging by the film alone one could go so far as to say this was a relatively 'easy' task. The isolation she faced, starvation and dehydration are hardly presented. Instead she seemed to often interact with people who helped her.

At the same time, the stunning landscapes, the might of her determination as well as her complete dependency on the camels and a dog is adequately portrayed.

Overall, this is a mixed bag of impressions. A good film overall, but it deserved to be great.

After reading the book "Tracks", I found it difficult to imagine anyone being able to transfer it properly to cinema. Well, it took them years to do it, but thankfully they've achieved what seemed almost impossible. I saw "Tracks" yesterday and I found it truly moving. It's a beautiful film - not just in its transporting cinematography and landscapes, but beautiful for its truthfulness, its honesty. "Tracks" is both sublimely poetic and ruggedly authentic - it's emotionally raw. I didn't find one false note in the movie - no melodrama or stereotype characters that you see in most Hollywood films. Mia Wasikowska's performance demonstrates that old line from Keats, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty" - it's a great performance - the epitome of soulful. The journey is as much her character's internal coming to terms with herself and the world, as it is the external journey, but nothing is spoon-fed to the audience. The film is psychological and spiritual and the landscapes and the actions reflect the central character's shedding of burdens and confronting herself in a naked environment - it's universal, but profoundly personal. One reviewer described it as "achingly beautiful", having now seen "Tracks", I feel that's an apt description. I think director John Curran and everyone involved in making the film has pulled off an extremely challenging project and have created something of lasting value. Congratulations.

I had been very excited about this movie after seeing the trailer. The story is exhilarating and after watching movies like "Into the Wild" and "127 Hours," I was waiting to see what was in store. As I sat down in my seat to see this at the San Francisco Film Festival I decided to erase all anticipation of the movie and just sit. The lights dimmed down, the audience shuffled into comfortable positions, and then began the movie. Almost two hours passed, and the film's credits began. The audience sat in their seats, myself included. We were mesmerized by John Curran's adaptation, Mia Wasikowska's tremendous performance, and Mandy Walker's impeccably/beautifully captured imagery. What stood out to me the most, though, was the perspectives of isolation and companionship. Marion Nelson did a fantastic job at taking the elements of the autobiography that gave us those perspectives, and as we watched Mia struggle through the desert with her four camels, dog, and occasionally the photographer (played by a genuine Adam Driver), we all began to understand her points of views in life as well as ourselves. So much motif was done with the desert, which I have to applaud John Curran for doing. I will be seeing this film again when it is released, and I hope you will too!

This is a gloomy movie with a plain and simple diegesis; it's about that aimless(or at least pointless for some people) journey throughout the desert, embarked by a hopeless Australian girl named Robyn Davidson.

It was a really long walk toward the Indian ocean. You can get the tenor of the story when she faced problems and tolerated difficulties along the hardships within the time of the trek, and her painful misfortune of losing a close friend who was her pet. It is a predominantly psychological movie that deals with human mental health and emotion. Now I don't know the purpose of this arduous trip that she took on her own, but, apparently, she intended to isolate herself from people. If you want to know the reason behind it, you can read her book "Tracks" (which is the book this movie is based on) to find the answer; but either way, I am a believer in the Absurdism philosophy that indicates the absurdity of life, and that we set our own meaning for it to make it seem rational and motivating.

Life is not set of fixed rules; rather, it's like the clay, you mold it in whatever way you want; so as long as it matters to her, then... hot dog! If you have watched and liked "into the wild" movie, then I'm sure you will undoubtedly like this either.

Tracks follows other films about individuals pushing limits and seeking purpose and adventure. It is tastefully and cleverly executed with talented performance by the lead Mia Wasikowska.

Two short points about this movie.

1) It is exceptional for its ability to draw you into the journey across the desert. Some of the hallucinations etc are tedious but necessary to fill gaps as there are not many characters. The cinematography does the desert and journey justice.

2) In a largely male dominated genre finally a female inspires as the lead character of a adventure story.

It is not an easy feat to make such slow, serious, moody, thoughtful, visually rich but eventwise sparse movies like Tracks. The very story is the real life traveling of a woman named Robyn Davidson, along with her doggie and 4 camels. Australia is a very unfriendly continent with its dire desert, merciless sun, dry arid air, cruel winds, lack of rain and plenty of sand and flies as well as pests in heated air. And yet, people live there and life goes on well there, as well. Mia Wasikowska does a great job as a main hero, and Adam Driver serves very well as a bit awkward but deeply sympathetic photographer. Their duo holds strong, with all the cameo roles and short appearances of numerous actors. One strong word of warning to all those who're going to peruse this film - it is rather slow, moody and deeply dreamy. If you're after fast wild action flicks, stay away from this one. But if you're interested in slower and moodier pieces of cinema, you're for a right track. In fact, this film only made me bewildering more how some brave people can try such dangerous trips alone and in such unfriendly country climatewise. They do, and they prove that a man is strong.

The movie has quite a high rating, so I was excited about seeing it. Similar movies like Into The Wild and Walk appealed to me, so I gave this one a go.

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed. The movie is about a 1700 mile journey alone through the desert, yet she's hardly ever alone in the movie. The shots are so focused on her that you don't get the sense of scale of the journey she's undertaking and it hardly ever seems like she's in any real trouble. All in all, during the movie I did not see what made the journey so tough.

Then there's the character herself. In my eyes, there's not enough background to understand her reasoning for undertaking such a significant journey. She just 'wants to'. The relationship between Robyn and the photographer also seems to come out of nowhere.

The acting by Mia is proper for what she has to do. The same goes for other main characters.

I feel like the movie shows just half of the important things, or just misses the sense of grandness, if you will, to make it spectacular. And for that reason, I was quite disappointed and will only award "Tracks" with 4*.

Tracks is the true story of Robyn Davidson, a 27 year old woman from Brisbane who in 1977 decided to embark on a 1,677 mile trek from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean, crossing the Australian outback. She did it mainly alone, aside from four camels and a faithful dog. She was helped a little by a photographer who organised financial backing for her trip from National Geographic magazine and with whom she had brief romantic involvement on her trip, while she was also assisted on the way by some Aboriginals who guided her though sacred lands of theirs. The trip in total took nine months.

This is one of those movies where the adventure itself is used as a means of the lead character exploring themselves as well as the more literal physical journey. Davidson endures both physical and psychological hardships along the way. While she never really goes into any detail as to why she is impelled to embark on her journey, we understand from various dream-like flashbacks that her mother committed suicide when she was an infant and this event has gone some way into shaping her the way she is. She is a loner and very self-contained but her subsequent adventure makes her realise more fully in the importance of others and that relying and respecting other folks is no bad thing and her own personal goals should at the very least be offset against these aspects.

Mia Wasikowska is very good as Davidson, she is quite believable in the role in a way that a lot of other actresses would not be, while Adam Driver also makes a mark as the photographer who is a little annoying but essentially a good person. The dramatics are fairly sparse here though because ultimately this is a film about solitude to a large extent. Consequently, a lot of the focus is on the landscape, terrain and animals. The excellent photography is very effective here in capturing both the beauty but also the harsh arid nature of this world. And the camels and dog are elevated to important and lovable characters and are also photographed very well. It should also be pointed out here that Wasikowska really seems to have put herself in some danger with her up and close interactions with some pretty scary mouth-frothing camels. This is clearly a role she committed herself to fully.

I always think that the Australian outback is such a cinematic place and its long flat horizons are particularly well suited to the widescreen frame – think Walkabout (1971), Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) or the more conventional recent Mystery Road (2013). It's specific combination of untamed nature, enigmatic indigenous people, functional isolated settlements and the western world close but so far away is a concoction that is unusual and ensures that Australian films set in the outback do often have their own unique feeling. Tracks is another in this type and it is appealing for all of these reasons. It, of course, has the added advantage of being a true story which always lends something extra. I'm not sure if you could exactly describe it as a travelogue picture though, as aside from brief sequences featuring the likes of Uluru, its landscape is far more harsh and arid and not precisely what you would describe as beautiful. Because of this, it feels like an authentic depiction of the real event. It's a quite minimalistic example of the biopic and a very good one.

The problem with 'Tracks' isn't that it's badly acted. It isn't, as Mia Wasikowska is excellent as outback explorer Robyn Davidson. It's not that it's poorly shot because it isn't, as the cinematography perfectly captures the harsh beauty of the Australian desert. It also has no problems with direction or editing or sound quality, in fact everything is in place for it to be a perfectly decent film.

Except for one thing; the story. Focusing on a young woman's largely solitary nine month trek, 'Tracks' is a film that suffers from similar problems to 'On The Road' and 'Into The Wild' before it. For while there's nothing wrong with going out into the world on a prolonged sabbatical to "find yourself," it's hard to find a reason to care about what is essentially a film version of someone's holiday photos.

Which is a real shame because as I've said, Wasikowska is terrific. She's a reserved and cautious lead, perfectly happy walking through miles of snake-infested wilderness with no shoes on but shying away from any real human connection. The film is almost entirely her show, told through facial reactions and body language and she manages to be empathetic throughout, even if she is a bit prickly around other human beings.

In fact, out of the remaining characters, only Adam Driver's sporadic appearances as her photographer have any meat on them. His and Robyn's growing relationship is one of the small triumphs here, evolving from reluctant business partners through on again/off again lovers and finally a genuine friendship. Everyone else, from surly farmers to concerned parents barely gets a look in.

As good as the performances are however, it's very difficult to make a film about an extended stroll invigorating. Robyn only has one goal and that's getting to the end of a journey we already know she completes and aside from a few faintly hallucinogenic moments (was that motorcyclist really there?), it all starts to feel a bit too much like watching someone's gap year unfold.

On the plus side though, unlike the heroine of the sort-of-similar 'Eat, Pray, Love,' Robyn isn't a nauseating self-obsessed egomaniac indulging in a year long pity party and instead is a resourceful and likable lead. There's a lot to admire in 'Tracks,' but it's difficult to enjoy in the traditional sense. Watch it on Netflix but don't buy the DVD.

(89%) A realistic, non-Hollywood adventure drama featuring a brilliant starring role from Mia Wasikowska, and beyond fantastic direction and location work. This maybe is one of the best looking and well shot movies of the year as the screen fills with the harsh yet wonderful outback as the colours of the sand covered landscape dominates everything. The pace will be too slow for the impatient, or those fed on a diet of MTV style garbage cinema with cuts every 2 seconds, but those that are able to immerse themselves into this stunning, simple, and superbly well-made near two hour trip to Australia will be rewarded with a film that is both poignant and magical. A highly recommended alluring marvel that's worth every penny tracking down, especially on the big screen.

This is a very interesting examination of human nature,

one aspect of it, anyway, namely Freedom! This is a piece of cinema catering to the ones that want to explore said aspect on yet another,

possibly unachievable level.

For the pioneering spirits, the renegades of society, faint reminders of where we come from (from the point of the protagonist) and how far we have to reach to grasp our true desires -- in this case to be truly free.

A modern-day epic that sneaks in some good humour and free-spirited adventures. And a nice hidden gem of movies

i often thought that some of the peoples' reasoning ability and logic are somewhat impaired. there are things that people stupidly do just want to prove something, but as a matter of fact, what they do in extreme behavior is nothing but irrational, self-righteous, meaningless and worthless. people are trying to do something to prove that they can overcome any kind of toughness, to prove that they have strong willpower to deal with dangerous situation like climbing rock, mountains, diving into the deep sea, jumping from a cliff, a plane, riding a motor bike at high speed over 20 cars, running marathon. but what's the purpose of doing these things? why you need to climb up the highest mountain to prove that you could do it? a jumbo jet with 400 to 600 hundred passengers would still fly over the summit that you have reached at 35,000 feet; climbing up the granite rock in yosemite national park, or reach the top of the monument rock without falling to your death....what? is there anything so special that you did it? there's another movie like this stupid one also has such meaningless stupidity: "wild 2014". why you have to trudge 1,000 miles on foot? to rediscover yourself? to punish yourself for what you did before? so let me ask you one thing: do you think that by walking 1,000 miles with just a backpack would allow you to find yourself, rebuild yourself, put you back on the right track of life? why not just stay at home and meditate regularly or do some community services, become a volunteer for some non-profit charity organizations? this young Australian woman led camels and dog across a 2,000 miles Australian desert is just another stupid, meaningless and worthless thing that nothing really to prove. some viewers said they enjoyed the cinematographic scenes of this film, that's another thing i could never understand.

Beautiful surrounds, information about aboriginal culture and a look at 1970s Australian approaches to the harsh landscapes. At times sad, at times uplifting. Well worth a watch.

A woman travels Australia dessert around 2000km...throughout joirney the movie depicts and great visual and great acting from protogonist...

A so-so movie.

The true story of Robyn Davidson who trekked across the Australian desert, from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean, in 1977. A journey of about 3,000 kms, accompanied by four camels and a dog.

Great scenery and cinematography. Some interesting moments and tales of survival.

However, just feels dull and pointless. Maybe it is because the trek is voluntary - there is no overarching survival story (her plane didn't crash, she's not trying to escape from a gulag). Also you get the feeling that help is always nearby (due to the National Geographic photographer). So it really doesn't feel like a life-or- death thing.

Maybe it is because survival movies have been done to death over the last few years.

Solid performance by Mia Wasikowska in the lead role. However, I found Adam Driver extremely irritating as the photographer. Or maybe that is how he was meant to be. I found it hard to believe that she would have any romantic feelings for a prat like him.